NOTE TO EDITORS: The models for the poster, Chris and Abby, are West High
School students. If you want to prepare a story about the poster and associated
Kick Butts Day events, please contact Tom Moore at (319) 356-3945.

Harmful effects of tobacco use featured at 'Kick Butts Day'

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Specialists in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center
at the University of Iowa will unveil a new weapon in their fight against
cancer on Kick Butts Day, Wednesday, April 4.

Kick Butts Day is devoted to spreading the word among children and adolescents
that they should not start smoking or to quit smoking if they do so currently.
To assist that effort, team members in the Thoracic Oncology Program in the
Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed special posters to help
young people better understand the harmful effects of tobacco use. The posters
feature two Iowa City teens with graphic illustrations of the ravages of nicotine.

"Our concept was to vividly demonstrate for kids the damage that they
can do to themselves if they smoke or chew tobacco," said Lou Halsch,
a program assistant in the Thoracic Oncology Program. "The poster features
two very attractive and appealing young people, and then shows the devastating
results of smoking, including head and neck tumors, prematurely aged skin,
and lung cancer."

Halsch adds that reactions to the poster indicate that it is effective in
delivering its message. On Kick Butts Day, the Thoracic Oncology Program team
members will incorporate the posters into their anti-smoking presentation
for the first time during an event at BGM High School in Brooklyn, Iowa from
10 a.m. to noon. The team will also exhibit the posters at a community-wide
health awareness fair at HLV High School in Victor, Iowa from 1 to 5 p.m.
that same day.

University of Iowa Health Care describes the partnership between
the UI College of Medicine and the UI Hospitals and Clinics and the patient
care, medical education and research programs and services they provide. Visit
UI Health Care online at www.uihealthcare.com.